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Some collies will absolutely stop a threat. I was raised with rough collies all my life. I clearly remember my brother getting a swat on the behind and yelling about it, a collie came around each side of the car and the big male grabbed my dad's hand ;-) Another of our collies jumped from the doorway onto the bed where my brother was wrestling with a buddy and put his mouth around the back of the buddy's neck, not biting, but holding....Collies are protectors when they feel they need to be.

You are absolutely right. We had an attempted home invasion when we still lived in Baltimore. Someone was banging on the door at 1 am screaming to help him. My husband opened the door (stupid, yes I know) and the guy attempted to push his way in. My collie got between him and my husband, pulled her lip back and snarled (she could look very wolfish when provoked) and he took off. I do believe she would have attacked if he continued to try to push his way in.

This is the same collie who played tag with the neighborhood kids and understood the rules. If you don't want to deal with the hair, get a smoothie.

My lab protects all creatures from harm...even the rabbits from our hound. The lab would never let anything happen to us, but he is a typical lab and I don't think he would be appropriate for kids under 10 or so. He's just big and rambunctious.

Whatever you get, make it black. For some reason, black dogs are more frightening than non black dogs. I don't get it, but they are.

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanuel Kant

If you're considering a border collie, get one from a reputable rescue that has fostered it around children. Children who remain unperforated.

Mine, while I love them, would never tolerate a child. There shall be no.random.movement that is not controlled by the collie! My older one still takes the odd nip out of my husband - who luckily doesn't take it personally.

My BC/pyr cross, OTOH, would make a perfect child guardian. He adores children and is a velcro-dog with his people and animals. Strangers to the farm, however, are greeted with thunderous barking and a truly impressive set of visible dentition. I bet a full pyr would suit your needs. Go to a working dog breeder - those tend to be a more manageable size with not so much floof as compared to the AKC types. Or better yet, look around at the shelters. I saw a young pyr bitch in a NC kill shelter just recently, poor girl.

Our standard poodle is extremely protective of the house and us. Me especially. She would eat someone alive if they aren't supposed to be here.

Mine is such a mega wimp, it's embarrassing. She used to hide behind me when she perceived a threat (be it other dog, human, or any scary thing at all). She didn't bark at all for the longest time. When people would come in, she'd stay in her bed, not moving, until people looked or talked to her, then she'd quietly leave the room to go hide upstairs. (and no, she wasn't abused, we got her when she was 4 months old directly from her breeder).
When out walking I almost never have her on the leash because she'll stay real close to me. She's totally uninterested in other humans or dogs. She's just an odd ball I guess, but she's also the gentlest, nicest, most trainable dog I've ever had, and great with kids, which is the reason why I got a Std poodle in the first place.

Mine is such a mega wimp, it's embarrassing. She used to hide behind me when she perceived a threat (be it other dog, human, or any scary thing at all). She didn't bark at all for the longest time. When people would come in, she'd stay in her bed, not moving, until people looked or talked to her, then she'd quietly leave the room to go hide upstairs. (and no, she wasn't abused, we got her when she was 4 months old directly from her breeder).
When out walking I almost never have her on the leash because she'll stay real close to me. She's totally uninterested in other humans or dogs. She's just an odd ball I guess, but she's also the gentlest, nicest, most trainable dog I've ever had, and great with kids, which is the reason why I got a Std poodle in the first place.

Really? Yeah mine would eat someone in a heartbeat. And she was my boyfriends dog long before I came into the picture. She's awesome, but yeah. She's protective. She always sits between me and the door. Or if I'm in the bedroom she wants to be either in the doorway or at the top of the stairs (about 10ft outside the bedroom door) just keeping watch.

I have no doubt she'd seriously hurt someone of they weren't supposed to be here. Best part? No one bans poodles. Neighbors aren't afraid of her. I can walk her anywhere and feel perfectly safe, yet no one is intimidated by her unless they have reason to be.

She's not the most cuddly dog. She wants to be with me/us, but not necessarily in your face or on your lap (the minis, however are ALL about in your face cuddling when allowed to be). She has the patience of a saint with kids too. She gets all silly puppy (she's 7) with them.

I think the idea of a "protection dog" is ridiculous. Unless you specifically train your dog to attack ON COMMAND ONLY, a dog who is willing to attack anyone under its own initiative is extremely dangerous and should worry you tremendously if you own it. Buy an alarm system instead. Guess who is most commonly bitten by dogs? the people who live in the household with the dogs- the children especially.

want you want is a dog that will alert-bark if he senses something odd, but won't actually bite anyone unless put under extreme duress or is commanded to do so (after training, of course).

If I thought my dog would actually "eat someone" without a specific command I'd work really hard to fix that problem. Dogs don't have the judgement/knowledge of our society to be making those kind of decisions. The dog will end up dead, the kid will have to have extensive plastic surgery, and you'll get sued.

why are people so paranoid? unless you're a criminal the odds of strangers attacking you are very low. It's usually your friends and family that attack.

My Shiba Inu will get in between me and a threat and his eyes go all dead and black like a shark. He's 26 lbs of don't mess with me. He gets very scary looking.
Oh, and he LOVES children. He thinks they are the best thing ever.

I think the idea of a "protection dog" is ridiculous. Unless you specifically train your dog to attack ON COMMAND ONLY, a dog who is willing to attack anyone under its own initiative is extremely dangerous and should worry you tremendously if you own it. Buy an alarm system instead. Guess who is most commonly bitten by dogs? the people who live in the household with the dogs- the children especially.

want you want is a dog that will alert-bark if he senses something odd, but won't actually bite anyone unless put under extreme duress or is commanded to do so (after training, of course).

If I thought my dog would actually "eat someone" without a specific command I'd work really hard to fix that problem. Dogs don't have the judgement/knowledge of our society to be making those kind of decisions. The dog will end up dead, the kid will have to have extensive plastic surgery, and you'll get sued.

why are people so paranoid? unless you're a criminal the odds of strangers attacking you are very low. It's usually your friends and family that attack.

Why WOULDN'T I want my dog to attack someone who broke into my house intent on doing me harm!? I have zero worry about her biting someone under normal, everyday circumstances. She wouldn't. She's plenty intelligent enough to know the difference.

She's great with kids. She loves them and will let them do anything to her. She's great with friends and friendly strangers. I have zero worry she would bite in day to day life. If she doesn't want to interact, she goes to another room. However, I have absolutely no doubt she would defend me if the situation called for it. I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

Not Bull Mastiffs. They not generally good with children. The most awesome family protection dog is actually the much larger English Mastiff. They are wonderful with kids and protective. They are also expensive, rare, and have short life spans. We didn't get one, but we seriously considered it.

I just scanned the 3 pages and I don't think the Boxer has been mentioned. Our boxer (now deceased) was the best family dog we have ever had- and we have had some great family dogs. He was two when our first baby was born- and adjusted without a blink to the new baby. He took his job of being with the children very seriously and would present an intimidating figure to anyone who didn't know him or had not yet gotten the family friend seal of approval.

the Anatolian is a neutered male,100 lbs,about 4yrs (have to check is records), all UTD......was a rescue at about 18 months..........not sure how he would be as a working dog, as he loved to bark at the equines, but he is great as a watchdog/guard dog.........and loving,loving ,loving.........they do need to be handled a bit differently than other shepherd breeds, but it's not a big deal once you understand the mindset...........when indoors, he is my mooney-eyed Velcro dog, and also loves to stay close,even when in the yard...........

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanuel Kant

I love German Sheps and Dobies....also, Boxers. Boxers love kids and naturally protect them. My first Boxer when I was a kid kept me from being spanked (when I really deserved it)....she'd sit by me and stare at my parental units. I was her puppy (she was there when they brought me home from the hospital...I was told she laid by my crib and was terribly concerned about me.

Neat dogs with a great sense of humor.

My Dobie was a BIG black female....very sweet and amazingly intimidating. People would cross the street when I was walking her. She loved people but would be "on duty" instantly when necessary.

dogs should never be encouraged to be protective, and it's not a positive trait, it's dangerous. If you want an actual protection dog, you need to carefully train your dog. Real protection dogs are given extensive training in how to decide when there is an actual threat. Your untrained dog is very unlikely to be able to do this. If you have a party, maybe someone will go looking for the bathroom, and your dog will decide he's an intruder and kill him. Or if your child is playing with friends, the dog may decide the friends are "attacking" your child and go after the kids. Happens a lot. Don't let it happen to you.

Why WOULDN'T I want my dog to attack someone who broke into my house intent on doing me harm!? I have zero worry about her biting someone under normal, everyday circumstances. She wouldn't. She's plenty intelligent enough to know the difference.

She's great with kids. She loves them and will let them do anything to her. She's great with friends and friendly strangers. I have zero worry she would bite in day to day life. If she doesn't want to interact, she goes to another room. However, I have absolutely no doubt she would defend me if the situation called for it. I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

I think most breeds of dogs would react in an obvious situation of threat to their families. Maybe they would not attack to kill, but I think many dogs would growl, bark, menace and possibly bite an obvious, scary-looking intruder. Even my brittanys, which I would never suggest as any sort of "guard dog" will bark like lunatics if startled, and if a scary-looking person came through the door and startled them they might actually bite.

But, the chances of a person getting bitten by mistake by my dogs are nearly non-existent, and I like it that way. We have kids, friends of our kids, friends and neighbors, grandparents, cousins, contractors/workmen etc. in and out of our house all the time. Kids burst through doors, scream, drop loud things, dress up in costumes, and do all kinds of wacky things that could be misinterpreted by a dog. I would be very careful of getting a "guard" dog, or dog for "protection" that I wasn't prepared to train extensively. And even then, I'd never want a dog known and bred for "protective" or "guard" tendencies in my house if it's likely to be anyone other than the family, or you plan to have it well secured anytime there are visitors in the house.

All dogs are a deterrent to theft; even small and friendly dogs, because they raise an alarm. If you truly live in an area where you need physical protection by a dog, you need to train it very well. And not assume that your dog can tell the difference between a threat or not.

Back in the 70s in our area for some reason there were a ton of GSD Collie mixes. They were like the standard farm dog. Everyone had one, especially horse farms that had a bunch of kids running amok with their ponies. Now there was a dog. Had all the best of the Collie (think Lassie) and all the best of the GSD (think Rin Tin Tin). The vet I worked for always said, "now that should of been a breed".

Meh-the best GP I knew lived with a rancher lady that was very isolated and alone. She had a creek running through the ranch that people always stopped to ask if they could fish but she rarely let them. the GP loved everyone as was her MO until one drunk guy drove in and got pretty argumentative with the elderly rancher lady. Until he got out of his truck and found 100 lbs of GP not fooling around putting him back in. You can't always anticipate what's going to happen.

I live in a great little town but in the sheriff reports I see that just down the road a couple months ago a drugged out meth head broke into someone's home insisting it was his own. They had to fight him out.

I don't mind that my dogs boil up and ask questions later-they don't ATTACK random visitors, they stand up and say Watch Yourself. And that's fine by me. If my 13 year old daughter is walking the dog and the dog is quite aware of men approaching her that's fine by me. If someone is prowling around thinking they're going to break into our vehicles at 3 am and they get greeted with the freight train that is our 3 year old male Great Pyrenees that's fine by me.

If someone ditches their stolen car in my parent's driveway in the middle of the night in a nice neighborhood in a nice small town and runs to hide in the freaking house it's ok with me that their Uber Paranoid Big Huge Vizsla barks so loud at them that they fell down running away.

Meh-the best GP I knew lived with a rancher lady that was very isolated and alone. She had a creek running through the ranch that people always stopped to ask if they could fish but she rarely let them. the GP loved everyone as was her MO until one drunk guy drove in and got pretty argumentative with the elderly rancher lady. Until he got out of his truck and found 100 lbs of GP not fooling around putting him back in. You can't always anticipate what's going to happen.

I live in a great little town but in the sheriff reports I see that just down the road a couple months ago a drugged out meth head broke into someone's home insisting it was his own. They had to fight him out.

I don't mind that my dogs boil up and ask questions later-they don't ATTACK random visitors, they stand up and say Watch Yourself. And that's fine by me. If my 13 year old daughter is walking the dog and the dog is quite aware of men approaching her that's fine by me. If someone is prowling around thinking they're going to break into our vehicles at 3 am and they get greeted with the freight train that is our 3 year old male Great Pyrenees that's fine by me.

If someone ditches their stolen car in my parent's driveway in the middle of the night in a nice neighborhood in a nice small town and runs to hide in the freaking house it's ok with me that their Uber Paranoid Big Huge Vizsla barks so loud at them that they fell down running away.

Give me a protective dog any day.

Yeah, well, the old lady in an isolated area with the GP probably doesn't worry about her kids' friends bursting through the door unexpectedly, either. It's great that your dog doesn't attack random visitors, but someone who is seeking a dog for the purpose of protection, and being advised on the type of breed most likely to "boil up and ask questions later" might not be so lucky.

I think that most people who want a "protection dog that is also a family dog and great with kids and their friends" really need a dog that looks intimidating to strangers.
IMO, the best choice is usually a good-sized dog that is friendly with family and stand-offish with strangers. As long as it doesnt fawn all over a strange adult, any of the "scarier" looking dogs with a soft temperment would do. I have known Dobies, GSDs, Rotties and Boxers that fit this - I am sure there are others! The problem with dogs like Std Poodles is that they dont look as scary from a distance and dont have that avoidance factor.

I would look for a dog that first, has a great temperment for your family. It is most important that they are not endangered by your "protection" dog. Then you want a dog whose appearance would make an intruder think twice. Any more than that requires extensive training and daily control that most people are not prepared for.

Realistically few people are going to try to break into a house they know has ANY dog. Dogs attract attention, even small ones. Do my poodles look scary? Not really. The standard is in a German cut, so she's less frou frou than most poodles, but she's still not terribly intimidating. They all, however, will make an INCREDIBLE amount of noise given half a reason. They are loud enough to be heard two houses down. I doubt most criminals want that kind of attention.